Samuel John Stone (25 April 1839 – 19 November 1900) was an English

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

hymnodist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

, and a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Life and career

Stone was born on 25 April 1839 at his father's rectory in the parish of Whitmore,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. His father, William, was a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

scholar and a

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

alongside his clerical work, who had published various works including a six volume religious epic and various compilations of hymns. Samuel had one sister, Sarah, who was born two years after him. When Samuel was 13 the family moved to London where his father had obtained a curacy. Following his schooling at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

he went up to

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, gaining a BA in 1862 and being awarded an MA in 1872. During that period too he was awarded the 1866 prize for a poem on a religious subject, in this case on Sinai, but was then deprived of it since he was no longer on the college books. He served a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in New Windsor from 1862 and while there wrote for his congregation the hymns of ''Lyra Fidelium'', in which his most famous hymn, ''

The Church's One Foundation "The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone. Background The song was written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused by John William Colenso, first Bishop of N ...

'', appears. In 1870 he moved to St. Paul's,

Haggerston Haggerston is a locale in East London, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of London's East End. It is about 3.1 mi ...

where, in 1874, he became the vicar. He remained at Haggerston for twenty years before taking up his final post at All Hallows' London Wall also in London. Stone died on 19 November 1900.

Select Bibliography

Poems

''The Knight of Intercession''
(1872)
''Sonnets of the Sacred Year''
(1875) * ''Deare Chylde, a Parish Idyll'' (1877)
''Lays of Iona and other poems''
(1897)
''Poems and Hymns''
(1903)

Hymns

''Lyra Fidelium: Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed''
(1866) including "

". * ''Hymns'' (1886)

References

External links

* 1839 births 1900 deaths Christian hymnwriters People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub